"What are those two up to now?" Ilia sighed, glancing around camp to notice two particular individuals were not at camp.
She woke up earlier than she would have liked. It was still dark out. So, with a sigh, she went to start her day when she recognized neither Naruto nor Blake was in their camping gear.
It wasn't all that surprising on one hand, seeing Naruto's life just involved training. However, she had known Blake and having seen how she acted around Naruto...
Ilia's imagination ran wild, and she had to repress a flush, thinking what the two could be doing; she knew well that wasn't what they were doing. However, after seeking out where the two went and hearing Blake panting off in the distance, Ilia couldn't restrain the blush on her face.
Pushing those thoughts aside so she could concentrate, her body shimmered and became translucent as she carefully tread through the forest, toward where she could hear Blake, using the trees to keep cover.
Naruto had a strange ability to sense, so she doubted she could hide from him, but Ilia attempted to stay hidden regardless. If they were...
Of course they weren't.
Ilia sighed as she found Naruto and Blake in a clearing. Blake was heavily panting, resting on one knee. A single, knocked over, large basket filled with rocks lay next to Blake as she observed Naruto...
And that was a sight to behold. A bewildering one. One that made Ilia sneak closer to listen in.
Naruto was lightly jogging past Blake, carrying several logs tied together on his back, stopping to check in on Blake. "How ya holding up?"
"Wonderfully..." Blake panted as she stared up at Naruto, half in annoyance, half in awe. "How the hell are you still going?"
"It's not all that difficult. Besides, I gotta keep going. It's what Bushy-Brow Sensei would have done, and he's one of the strongest people I know, and I hope to one day become that physically strong." Naruto beamed.
"You're still seeking to get stronger? You are already insanely powerful." Blake huffed, still struggling to catch her breath.
"So?" Naruto's response was simple, causing Blake to recoil in surprise. "You might think I'm strong, but I know there are stronger out there. I've fought people stronger than me. There's no reason for me to get complacent. There is always someone stronger out there, and if they happen to be a threat, I want to be ready to face them at my best."
Ilia's eyes sharpened. Naruto had fought people stronger than he was? Who and where?
It was strange enough that someone like Naruto wasn't a known quantity! If someone was stronger than he was...
"Are you talking about who you fought in the war?" Ilia's eyes narrowed as Blake curiously asked.
War? There hadn't been a war since the Faunus Revolution, a few years after the Great War. What war could he be talking about?
"Yeah. They were some of the toughest foes I have ever come across. It was just a nonstop battle, where someone stronger just kept coming until it ended with her—the mother of Asura and Indra, Kaguya. Sasuke and I were lucky we got these powers to seal her away. I don't think we could have won otherwise." Naruto responded, dropping his logs as he parked next to Blake.
"And that bothers you, doesn't it?" Blake frowned, noticing Naruto's serious expression.
"It gives me a reason to keep training. I want to be strong enough to beat people like that and protect those I care about... Maybe if I'm strong enough, I won't lose another friend like I did that day." Naruto gnashed his teeth as he balled his fists before he gazed up and looked into the night sky.
A silence fell between Naruto and Blake as Ilia watched on. She frowned, still quite confused by this war Naruto mentioned; however, she slumped against the tree and grimaced. The tone he spoke about losing his friend reminded...
That anger and sorrow reminded her of how she felt when she lost her parents.
And those kinds of scars never went away.
"Then let's keep training." Blake broke the silence, reaching over and placing a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. "If this is what it takes to make a difference, I'm here for it. Let's go."
"Are you sure? It's only gonna get harder from here." Naruto asked before laughing as Blake scowled at him, reaching back to pick up his logs as he stood up. "Fair enough... You wouldn't have sought me out otherwise."
"It's time to add more laps if we're gonna do this right. Bushy Brow-sensei wouldn't have it any other way."
[ X ]
Weiss had intimate knowledge of this type of Grimm. It wasn't the first time she had faced a Geist before.
Facing one was how she proved her resolve to her father. However, that one had possessed a suit of armor and became an Arma Gigas.
This one was of stones and thick boulders, turning it into a Petra Gigas.
One would have thought that to be a problem, as her rapier had only caused glancing blows to armor, but to stone? It should have done nothing, yet she was carving right through it!
Everyone was!
Penny's Floating Array and her wires were dicing through it. Neo with Hush was puncturing through its core, and even Ilia was cutting through with Lightning Lash in either whip or blade form.
But most surprisingly of all was that Blake didn't even unsheathe Gambol Shroud. She simply bided her time, and when it came, she slunk in and, with a simple aerial kick, smacked the Petra Gigas to the earth and shattered the core.
"There is no way we've become this strong." Weiss blinked, stupefied at what she just witnessed.
"Heh, surprised?" Naruto smugly grinned, leaping from his perch as he joined them. "I'm not. Using my sensei's old test, I have been pushing each of you to and past the extent of your abilities by gradually forcing you to match my strength and speed. Wasn't what it was originally intended for, but I think he would be proud regardless of my implementation of it."
Weiss frowned, furrowing her brow. It felt like Naruto was holding back during their training. And logically, that explanation made sense. She thought she was moving and reacting faster during training with Naruto.
But to handle a Grimm she struggled with months ago so easily, even with assistance? The same type of Grimm that left her eye scarred?
It left her speechless, unable to express how she felt.
"Job is not done," Qrow, having watched from the sidelines, motioned toward the Petra Gigas.
Or what remained of the rubble the Geist had possessed as it rapidly floated away into the distance, through trees as it retreated. In such a short span, it had quickly covered a lot of ground. It was easily several hundred meters away from them...
Weiss glowered. She forgot how difficult it was to kill a Geist. The one way was to destroy the head...
Her gaze shifted to Blake. For the first time, her hand reached behind her back and rested on the hilt of Gambol Shroud as she barely tilted her head behind her to gaze at the Geist. And in a moment, a smoky shadow clone replaced her for a mere moment...
Before Blake appeared in front of the Geist, slicing through the mask with a single strike and landing in a crouch, sheathing her sword.
"How in the... What have you kids been doing this last week?!" Qrow stumbled over his words while Weiss's eyes shimmered in alarm.
Blake hadn't moved that fast all during their training!
"Training." Naruto simply answered, causing Qrow to smolder and glare at him. Weiss joined in with a raised brow. Naruto waved those concerns off and shook his head, his gaze shifting and focusing on the young Faunus as she slowly strolled back toward them. "Mah, it's nothing special. She joins me when I train at night and early in the morning..."
"And she's got a long way to get caught up."
[ X ]
The embers of the campfire flickered. Everyone was settling in for the night. It was almost time to join Naruto...
Blake felt a sense of anxiety she hadn't felt in a while. Everyone had been giving her glances throughout the afternoon. It was inevitable after she dispatched the Geist in the manner she did.
How she easily destroyed a boulder with a simple kick.
Blake refrained from sighing. It was apparent why. Her strength and speed had dramatically increased since leaving Atlas.
It was something she hadn't noticed immediately. She didn't have a reason. They had arrived in Mistral, and soon after, they began to search for Naruto. She had only started to notice something different in how sharp her senses felt. How perceptive she felt of everything around her. How she could see everything.
Sometimes, it felt like everything was moving in slow motion.
Blake wasn't sure what it was at first, but now, after reuniting with Naruto and hearing why he had left, there was an answer. This inherited will had dramatically boosted her physical capacities.
And from what Naruto had told her, she had only accessed a fragment of the power it contained. That it hadn't fully awoken.
So, this past week, when she noticed Naruto was heading off by himself in the morning and night, she joined him. If this power meant Blake had the power to make a change, she needed to learn how to control and wield it.
However, this morning, his regime was a little worrisome. Naruto stated he modeled it after a friend and his sensei's method of physical training...
"Okay, what gives?" Blake's attention drew toward Weiss across the campfire. She was scowling, arms crossed over her chest, her gaze sharp as she looked over at her.
Almost as if she was trying to decipher her and solve a problem.
"I also have some questions. I know you weren't that strong when I captured you in Vale. Despite watching you follow along with that insanity he calls training this morning, it doesn't add up. You only just started to train in that manner." Ilia added with a frown, sitting up from her sleeping bag and turning toward Blake.
"And you weren't that fast in Atlas either. You got tossed around just as much as we did." Neo added, glancing over at Penny with a sneer before returning her gaze toward Blake.
Penny recoiled, looking down shamefully before she glanced back up at Blake with an inquisitive expression. "You're aura has to deal with Naruto, doesn't it? Your aura has become similar to his."
"Aura change?" Weiss's head shot up and swiveled toward Penny.
"If that's the case, that doesn't surprise me. He's capable of weird shit like that." Neo rolled her eyes before she shook her head.
"And what does that mean?" Weiss's scowl deepened, her gaze shifting to Neo.
"I was mute for my entire life before I met him." Neo gave a simple, monotone answer.
Weiss recoiled, eyes significantly widened at Neo's revelation, her attention slowly shifting to Blake for confirmation.
"That's true. As is my Aura change." Blake gave a frustrating sigh, glancing amongst the rest. "I don't really know how to explain..."
"Let me," Naruto announced his presence. Everyone's attention shifted as Naruto strolled into camp, joining Blake's side as he sat next to her. "It's got everything to do with me, so I might as well explain it to everyone since you all decided to join us."
"But first, you kind of have to understand, my story is... complicated."
[ X ]
"You're from the past?" Neo broke the long silence, a hint of disbelief in her voice as she looked over at Naruto.
"I think I am. I don't have solid evidence to prove it outside of Blake inheriting Indra's will. It's just a hunch. A hunch from everything learned about Remnant since Blake found me." Naruto hesitantly nodded, glancing toward Blake.
"It makes more sense than when we thought you were an alien," Blake added with a faint smile, trying to lift the dour mood.
"That makes more sense? How does any of this make sense?" Weiss raised her brow before shaking her head. "There has to be a more rational answer... A reasonable answer to all of this!"
"No, there doesn't." Qrow's voice surprised almost everyone except Naruto and Blake. The drunkard, leaning against a tree just outside of camp, made his presence known as he stepped out from behind. "You're living in a world where most fairy tales you read as a child are about things in the past. A world where the Grimm are all commanded by an immortal witch trying to gather magical items to destroy the world. A traveler from the past or an alien from another world who happens to have overwhelming and bizarre powers isn't that extraordinary."
"I..." Weiss stammered before recoiling as she hung her head, struggling with all she had learned over the past few weeks.
"I think being from the past makes more sense, actually." Penny thoughtfully stated after a short pause.
"Why do you think that?" Naruto responded, both confused and curious.
"It's because your aura is very similar to ours in most functions. From all my analysis, the main difference is how much more regulated your aura is and how it has a strange potency that is reminiscent of Dust," Penny stated.
"Huh... That makes a lot of sense." Naruto furrowed his brow before frowning, noticing the wide-eyed stares everyone else had. "What? Did I miss something?"
"Naruto, you remember when I explained Dust to you and how it allows people to wield the elements?" Blake asked, waiting for Naruto to nod.
However, as his expression lit up, a sense of unease and dread followed. "And with chakra, I'm allowed to control the elements freely... Great. Now I have even more questions."
"Well, luck seems to favor you, kid. The relic that is housed at Haven happens to be called the Relic of Knowledge." Qrow scoffed, waiting for the other shoe and his bad luck to drop.
"And it just so happens, I was given the password on how to activate it."
[ X ]
It was a comfortable, calm, and crisp morning. Naruto had fish frying on the campfire along with a kettle to boil water for his daily cup of ramen.
As long as he kept Blake content and full of fish, he got his ramen, so it was win-win!
Weiss had caught onto Naruto and Blake's training in the morning and demanded not to be left behind. So Blake stayed behind as she ran through the routine. He could only imagine how much Weiss was complaining now, realizing how strenuous it was.
"You lot look very comfy out here." Raven's voice descended from the sky as a raven and a crow swopped from the sky, and transformed into the bandit leader and her brother.
"Mah, is it already time?" Naruto blinked, seeing Raven there before reaching for his scroll and frowning. "Must have lost track of time... Mah, now I understand why we took so long back then."
"Can we hurry and do this? I'd rather get this over with." Raven impatiently raised her brow while Naruto reminisced.
"Yeah, I'll go collect everyone." Naruto yawned, cracking his neck as he stood and did a standing stretch.
"It's about time we get this on the road."
[ X ]
It was finally time.
How long had she waited? This boy, who had been a headache for her subordinates, would be here soon.
Salem had to admit, she was intrigued by this boy. Despite all at her disposal and with Arthur's ability to access most data, there was hardly any information on this boy. All there was about him was his encounter with Cinder's forces in Vale and what he did in Atlas.
And the tidbit about him transforming into a golden fox from Tyrian interested her further. The way he described it, it felt as if he held a connection to Brother God of Light...
That was something she wanted to address personally. If he did, perhaps there was another way to draw them back to this world...
A ring from the headmaster's desk drew Salem's attention. Leonardo fidgeted under her gaze, giving her a weary glance as she loomed in the corner. Standing at her side was a large, imposing man. One that she simply nodded toward to enforce her will.
"Answer it," Hazel demanded, cracking his knuckles as he stared Leonardo down.
"Uh, yes." Leonardo recoiled, reaching for his scroll while trying to keep his voice calm as he answered. "Ah, Qrow. It has been so long... Oh, you are already here? I'll be right there."
Smirk smirked, amused by how the terrified man fumbled over his words, and yet they bought it regardless. It paid that the man was a natural coward. They likely didn't even notice something was amiss.
One she could easily manipulate.
Waiting until Leonardo ended the call, Salem spoke. "It's time. Don't forget your part, my dear."
"Yes, I'm going to meet them, alleviate any worries they have as I lead them in. From there, Vermillion will take his enforcers from Hana will spring the trap and separate the boy and the Maiden from the main group to allow you." Leonardo bit his lip as he relayed the plan back to Salem.
"Very good. Go on then." Salem gave a vicious smirk, stopping him just as he reached for the door to his office. "Do not fail in this endeavor. If something unexpected were to happen, well, I fear not only for your safety, my dear, cowardly lion..."
"But for the welfare of all your students who should be arriving shortly."